$100 in 1985 is worth $160 in 2000,
because prices increased 60.0% over that period, an average of
3.18% a year.
$100 in 1985 has
the same buying power as
$160
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
60.0%
Average inflation rate
3.18% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$160
Price difference ($100 base)
$60.04
CPI in 1985
107.6
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1985 → 2000
$160
$100 in 2000 → 1985
$62.49
What happened to prices between 1985 and 2000
Between 1985 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 107.6 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 60.0%, which works out to an average of
3.18% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1985 bought what
$0.62 buys in 2000: the 1985 dollar
lost 37.5% of its purchasing power over
these 15 years.
By 1985, low inflation had become the norm rather than the exception.
Consumer prices rose 3.6% for the year, the fourth straight year in the
3-6% range following the double-digit spikes of 1980 and 1981, proof that
the disinflation had held rather than merely paused, as it had after
previous recessions. Overseas, the dollar had become a problem of its own:
years of high U.S. interest rates had pulled in foreign capital and pushed
the dollar’s value up so far that American exporters were losing business
abroad, widening the trade deficit. In September, the finance ministers of
the U.S., Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom met at New
York’s Plaza Hotel and agreed to coordinate a managed decline of the
dollar; it fell roughly 25% against major currencies over the following two
years. At home, Congress responded to a federal deficit that had roughly
tripled since 1980 by passing the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act in December,
setting binding targets to shrink the deficit with automatic
across-the-board cuts if lawmakers missed them. Households felt the calmer
economy in small ways: first-class postage rose to 22 cents in February,
its first increase since November 1981, after nearly four years at 20
cents.
Every 1985 amount converts to 2000 at the same ratio, 1.60: $1,000 becomes
$1,600, and $10,000 becomes $16,004.
Amount in 1985
Value in 2000
$1.00
$1.60
$5.00
$8.00
$10.00
$16.00
$20.00
$32.01
$50.00
$80.02
$100
$160
$500
$800
$1,000
$1,600
$5,000
$8,002
$10,000
$16,004
$100,000
$160,037
$1,000,000
$1,600,372
Inflation by spending category, 1985–2000
Between 1985 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 129.8%, while energy rose the least, up 22.6%, against 60.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1985
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1985 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.18%
$160
Medical care
5.70%
$230
Core (all items less food & energy)
3.44%
$166
Food
3.14%
$159
Housing
3.07%
$157
Transportation
2.46%
$144
Apparel
1.41%
$123
Energy
1.37%
$123
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1985: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1985 to 2000
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 3.97% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1985–2000 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1985, at end
1985–1990
3.97%
21.5%
$121
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$160
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1985
$100 from 1985 had already become $130 by
1992, on its way to $160 in 2000; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 5.4% in 1990, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1985 had the buying
power of $160; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1985 to 2000: $100 is worth $160 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1985 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1985-to-2000/